Former Education Minister Says Childcare Needs Boost For Students And Disadvantaged Families

Chair of the Education Select Committee Robin Walker has said Government childcare measures must go further to support families and the early years sector, urging the government to expand provisions to graduate students and disadvantaged groups.

On Monday, provision of free childcare will be extended to working families with two-year-olds for 15 hours a week, which will then increase to 30 hours for all under-fives from September 2025.

Walker, a Tory MP and former education minister between 2021 and 2022, told PoliticsHome that any expansion of childcare provisions was “very welcome”, but said that his committee would be closely watching what the outcome of the new provisions will be in the coming years – particularly in whether there is a significant change in the number of parents accessing early years care and which groups are reached across the country.

“To what extent are you providing subsidies for things that people would otherwise be paying for themselves is part of the question,” he said.

“Because if the Treasury's analysis is right, that this will help people to work who otherwise wouldn't be able to work, you'd hope that this will be additive and you'll find more people taking up that childcare, who weren't originally taking up childcare and accessing work as a result. So I think looking at measures like that will be quite important.”

The Education Committee made multiple recommendations to the government as a result of an inquiry into childcare provisions last year – many of which have not since been taken up. The committee’s report recommended that the government extend free childcare hours to parents in training or education, which would be particularly important for single parents who need to retrain to secure